Dr Neeraj Patil, former Mayor of the Lambeth Borough of London, has expressed concern over Pakistan-sponsored terrorist organisation Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) extending support to the Labour Party, reports India Today.
According to the report, the Indian-origin former mayor, Patil has written to party’s Jeremy Corbyn and Labour Party General Secretary Jennie Formby, requesting the party to cut its ties publicly with terror outfit JKLF.
Speaking to India Today, Dr Patil said that he was a strong advocate of peace between India and Pakistan. “Our party is for international peace and justice and I hope they will understand the sensitivity of the situation and sever their ties with JKLF. I am confident that my party will take all the necessary remedial measures and dissociate itself from this terrorist organisation JKLF,” the doctor-turned-politician said.
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Last week, the terror organisation JKLF had released a statement extending its support to the UK Labour party ahead of the December 12th elections in the country.
In a letter written to the Labour Party chief Corbyn, the JKLF had stated that it has decided to extend its complete support to the party “on behalf of the Kashmiri diaspora in the UK, and particularly thousands of members of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)”.
The JKLF had also expressed its gratitude towards the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn for adopting a ‘unanimous resolution on the issue of Kashmir, which had pushed for mediation as a process to solve Kashmir issue.’
Read: NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan attends UK ‘Kashmir’ event, gets endorsed by JKLF
Reportedly, Dr Patil is yet to receive any reply from the party. However, he said that he firmly believes that anti-India forces in the Labour Party need to be fought while remaining in the party and not resigning from it.
Patil also pointed out that not only has the JKLF extended support to the Labour Party but, the Luton Labour party is displaying and circulating a letter of endorsement by JKLF to the Labour Party and is appealing to vote for our party.
“Our Labour party does not need the endorsement of a terrorist organisation. It is very disturbing to note that Luton Labour party is displaying this letter of endorsement from JKLF on the official Facebook of the Constituency Labour Party,” added Neeraj Patil.
He also cited how JKLF was behind the killing of an Indian diplomat in London and said that JKLF was a designated terrorist organisation in India. On February 6, 1984, JKLF had kidnapped an Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre in Birmingham and demanded the release of its founder member Maqbool Bhat from an Indian prison. When the Indian government declined, the diplomat was brutally murdered in Birmingham by members of JKLF at Alum Rock.
JKLF is one of notorious Pakistan sponsored terror outfits and also has been one of the chief initiators of radicalisation and terrorism in the Kashmir valley. Its chief Yasin Malik is currently facing charges for killing 4 Indian Air Force personnel in cold blood. The JKLF in the Kashmir Valley was banned by the Indian government under the revamped anti-terror law in March 2019.
Apart from this, after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, JKLF activists, prominent British-Pakistanis associated with the Labour Party, and even several Labour party MPs in the UK were part of anti-India protests that had seen attacks on the Indian High Commission building in the UK in September 2019.
JKLF, with support from several Pakistani-British groups, has been mobilising people to hold rallies to garner support against India over the Kashmir issue.
The Labour Party’s stand on Kashmir has been extremely controversial which has upset many pro-Indian voices in the country. Led by controversial leader Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour party has often taken an anti-India stance and has also extended its support to various propaganda pushed by pro-Pakistan elements in the United Kingdom.
Recently, the Labour party had asked Corbyn to meet the high commissioners of both India and Pakistan to ensure there is “mediation” and restoration of peace and normality to prevent a potential nuclear conflict. On September 25, the Labour Party had passed a resolution that supported “international intervention in Kashmir and a call for UN led-referendum.”
After massive outrage by the Indian diaspora and over fears of losing British-Indian votes, Jeremy Corbyn’s labour party had later backtracked on its resolution. In a complete turnaround, the Labour Party’s chairperson, Ian Lavery, has called Kashmir a ‘bilateral issue’ and said that it should be resolved by India and Pakistan. It states that the Labour party is opposed to external interference in the political affairs of any other country.
The Labour party’s stand on Kashmir is contrary to India’s position on Kashmir. India has categorically told the international community that its move on Kashmir was an internal matter. India has always maintained that any dialogues with Pakistan will be bilateral only.
In a bizarre development, representatives from the Congress party in India had met UK Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn “to discuss the human rights issues in Kashmir”. After facing criticism and backlash for meeting Corbyn despite his vocal anti-India stand, Congress had issued a clarification that their meeting was to ‘condemn’ the anti-India resolution passed by Corbyn’s party.